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Notre Dame-Navy: It's About Time

One of the more overrated stats in football sometimes can be time of possession.

If one has a quick-strike, explosive offense, then time of possession can be inconsequential. None of last year’s four College Football Playoff teams finished among the top 50 in that category, including Oklahoma with Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray at No. 89 and national champion Clemson at No. 95.

In Clemson’s four touchdown “drives” during their 30-3 Cotton Bowl victory versus Notre Dame that covered 65, 85, 80 and 71 yards, it took a grand total of 6:03 (only 1:31 per possession). That’s what occurs with explosive, game-changing athletes.

When Cincinnati finished the regular season 12-0 in 2009 under then head coach Brian Kelly, who took the Notre Dame job shortly thereafter, they were last in time of possession.

Quarterback Malcolm is the engine that makes Navy's triple-option so effective and time consuming.
Quarterback Malcolm is the engine that makes Navy's triple-option so effective and time consuming. (NavySports.com)
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However, make no mistake about it: When one plays Navy and its methodical triple-option attack that milks the clock and shortens the game, time of possession becomes a focal theme in the matchup.

The two absolutes about Navy football this century have been that it will rank among the nation’s top five — if not No. 1 — in rushing offense, and there will be an emphasis on playing “keep away” while keeping the clock moving with each possession.

Those two constants have remained during the 7-1 start for the Midshipmen this year while once again cracking the nation’s top 25. Navy far and away leads the nation in rushing with a 357.9 average (at 6.08 yards per carry), 29 yards more than No. 2 Air Force at 323.1. No other teams are past 300.

The time of possession is “only” 19th with a 32:41 average per game, but Notre Dame is 109th among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams at 27:55.

Aiding Navy’s possession time is ranking No. 13 nationally in third-down conversions at 48.5 percent — and No. 5 on fourth down at 15 of 18 (83.3 percent). The latter in particular is what can demoralize a defense while methodically keeping the chains moving.

Recent history demonstrates that each series on offense by Notre Dame needs to be maximized in a game where opportunities might be minimized, which brings us to …

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IT’S ABOUT TIME: PART II

Former Navy head coach Paul Johnson (2002-07) used to joke that whereas the Notre Dame football team had 40 or so Parade All-Americans (the standard for “star system” decades ago), his Midshipmen only had guys that would march in a parade.

The Notre Dame-Navy series saw the Fighting Irish record an NCAA-record 43 consecutive victories from 1964-2006.

Since 2007, however, the Midshipmen have registered four victories against the Fighting Irish, most recently in 2016 (28-27). They also have taken Notre Dame to the wall several other times before losing by scores such as 27-21 (2008), 38-34 (2013), 49-39 (2014) and 24-17 (2017).

If the outcome in these games was predicated solely on recruiting “star rankings,” Notre Dame would be a likely five- to six-touchdown favorite every year. The 2014 and 2015 Navy recruiting classes were not ranked in the Rivals’ top 100, while 2016 was No. 88, 2017 was tied for No. 76, and the last two were No. 91 and No. 84, respectively.

However, this game is not necessarily always about talent; it is about time (see above)— and preparation — for Navy’s triple-option attack.

One year after coming off the 28-27 loss to Navy in 2016, the 8-2 Fighting Irish in 2017 trailed 17-10 against the Midshipmen midway through the third quarter before rallying for a 24-17 victory on 30- and nine-yard touchdown passes from Brandon Wimbush to Kevin Stepherson.

Notre Dame clinched the victory when it forced a Navy incomplete pass on fourth-and-five from the Irish 25-yard line with 1:25 remaining.

Navy possessed the ball 42:42 to Notre Dame’s 17:18, although the Irish did amass 327 total yards (164 rushing and 163 passing) on those seven series. Unofficially, that might be the greatest ever disparity in possession time by the Irish.

During Navy’s 28-27 victory in 2016:

• Notre Dame had only six possessions in the contest (on average a team will have at least 12, or three per quarter). According to research by the NCAA, that was the fewest by a Football Bowl Subdivision team since Nov. 25, 2008, when Northern Illinois also had only six versus — who else? — Navy.

• The Irish had merely one possession apiece in the third quarter (a touchdown drive that lasted 5:17) and in the fourth quarter (a field goal march that took 4:29).

• After Notre Dame converted that field goal to cut the deficit to 28-27 with 7:28 remaining, Navy ran out the clock on the game’s final series following the Irish kickoff. On the previous Midshipmen possession, it had used exactly 9:00 on its touchdown drive to take a 28-24 lead.

There is an enormous disparity in NFL talent level between the two teams, but the Navy scheme keeps it competitive and a tough out for just about everyone.

It begins at quarterback, and Navy has had option maestros there with Ricky Dobbs (2007-10), who beat the Irish twice, Keenan Reynolds (2012-15), the NCAA record holder for touchdowns scored (88) and fifth in the Heisman balloting in his final campaign, and now senior Malcolm Perry.

During the 7-1 start, Perry averaged 130.3 rushing yards per game at 6.6 yard per carry with 16 touchdowns, and his 29 completions off play-action averaged 24.9 yards.

“The quarterback-driven offense allows them to really make it difficult on you to defend them," said Kelly earlier this week. "… When you have a guy like Malcolm Perry, he's a quarterback that makes this thing very, very dangerous.

“They're generally going to have an outstanding quarterback that is going to be able to stress you in so many areas and get the ball on the perimeter and force you to defend him. …You have to play a lot of the cover zero against them. If you're not, it's a slow march to the end zone because they certainly do a great job of having a quarterback that can continue to make yards each and every down.”

Sometimes the clock can be just as great an opponent.

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